Roller carrier device



Jan. 23, 145. A R go 2,367,754

ROLLER CARRIER DEVICE Filed May 23, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 PW. I 7

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HTTORNEYS Jan. 23, 1945. coLE ROLLER CARRIER DEVICE Filed May 23, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY:-

Patented Jan. 23, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROLLER oanama DEVICE Arthur R. Cole, Bridgeport, Conn. Application- May 23, 194-4,- Serial No. 536,888

(01. tie-c514;

4' Claims.

My invention relates to a new and improved roller carrier and more particularly to' a hand truck, especially intended and adapted for iacd. An improved handle arm, which serves as a handle for pulling the device and which also serves as a lever arm whereby the device may be tilted.

Another object of my invention isto provide an improved hand truck device which is small, durable and sturdy in construction. and which is extremely useful and ellicient as a loading and conveying device.

Still another object of invention to provide an improved hand truck device whichis easy to use, manipulate and operate, and which. can be readily handled by one person to lift and carry receptacles containing heavy materials;

Numerous additional objects of my invention will be stated in the annexed description and drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment thereof.

Fig. l. is a side elevation of the improved device showing the receptacle or boxof material iully loaded thereon.

Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation of thedevice, a portion of the handle arm being shown broken away.

Fig. 3 is a frag-mental sectional elevation of that part of the handle arm to which the hook member is adjustably and pivotally secured.-

Fig. 4 is a fragmental' top plan View of the device.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 54' of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a fragmental front view of the device.

Referring to the drawings, the improved device broadly compris'es a roller' carrying rectangular open frame and a handle arm H pivotally attached to the front end of said frame.

Frame F" includes the notched front wall FD,

the inclined rear wall H and the side walls I2 all of the said walls being integral.

A series of spaced rollers RI and R2 are tornably mounted upon transverse axles which are secured to the side walls l2 of frame The said rollers are all of equal diameter and any number may be provided for each series depending perforce on the size of the platform desired. It is not essential that all the rollers be of the same diameter and they may vary asdesired.

Rollers R! are provided to render the device.

mobile and roller R2 are the means employed to load the box or receptacle B on the device. In addition, rollers R2 serve as a platform which supports box B once the said boxor case is loaded upon the device.

It will be clearly noted andobserved trem Figs. 1 and 2 that the axles carrying rollers R1 are not in alignment with the axles carrying rollers R2, so that the tops of the peripheries of rollers R2 are in a different horizontal plane from the tops of the peripheries of rollers RT. Likewise, the bottoms of the peripheries "of rollers RI are in a different horizontal plane] than the bottoms of the peripheries of rollers Hi. There'- fore, the planar bottorii or boxB does'hot coirtact rollers Rl but restsequally upon the: tops of the rollers comprising series R 2", while roller Hi contact the floor or ground.- It will noted that rollers R2 do not in any way contact'tl ie floor or ground whilethe device is in motion or Bit rest.

Handle arm is ion'n'ed or two similarly shaped longitudinal meta l strips t3 areof equal length.- Thesestrips converge and are connected at their upper ends in face to face abutting relation and diverge at their lower ends, thus forming an elongated triangular-shaped opening 0 therebetween, the apex of said opening. being located at theconverging point of the upper ends of saidstrips l3 Handle arm ll 15- provided at its upper end with the handle bar 18 which extends through strips [3 'adjacent their upper connected ends. The bottom ends of strips [3 terminate in the integral crossbar If is rigidly secured by bolts F9 to arfii 2U of'braclset' BB.

AS shown in Figs; 4 andt; bracket BB corn- 'rise's" the longitudinal arm at" and the integral curved side arms 21". said bracket BB is pivoted intermediate the ends of its arms 21 to the front end or frameby means or pivot pint? secured to side walls l2 of said frame. It'will be notedthat front wall m of frame F is located anterior to Said pivotal connection. A follef RB is turnably mounted upon an axle 23 which is secured to the free ends of arms 2| of bracket BB, said roller being located posterior to said pivotal connection. When bracket BB is pivoted about its pivoted connection22, roller RB will move in unison therewith. The functions'of roller RB, bracket BB and handle arm H will hereinafter be explained when the use and operation of the device is described.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, strips l3 which comprise handle arm H, are formed with a plurality of aligned openings I5. These openings are adapted to receive the pivot pin [6 about which the hook member I4 is looped or bent. In other words, handle arm H carries hook member H. which is pivotally connected to said handle arm. Hook member I4 is rendered adjustable by inserting pin 16 in any pair of aligned openings l5. Pivot pin l6 extends transversely of opening formed by strips l3 and hook member I4 is parallel to the longitudinal axis, of said opening. Hook member M is provided with the hook terminal Ma at its lower end for engagement with box or receptacle B. Said box B is provided at its front end with an outwardly projecting tongue 29 having an opening therein adapted to be engaged by hook terminal Ma. At its rear end, box B is provided with a ring or loop 28. It will be noted that hook member l4 may be manipulated simply by pushing the upper end Mb thereof downwardly.

Located on handle arm H intermediate bracket BB and the pivotal connection of hook member I4, is the adjustable clamping yoke Y. Said yoke comprises the upper retaining portion 24 having the concavity 24a formed therein and the bottom plate member 25, as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 5. As shown in the latter figure, the bottom face of member 24 and the top face of plate 25 are grooved at their respective side edges so as to receive and securely hold the top and bottom edges of strips l3 when wing screw 26 is tightened. It will be noted that yoke Y extends transversely of opening 0 and said yoke serves as retaining or bracing means to prevent disengagement of the'hook member M from the opening in tongue 29 of box B. It will be noted that hook member I4 is located within concavity 24a of portion 24 of yoke Y.

As shown in Fig. 6, front wall 10 of frame F is formed with notches or recesses 21 which are adapted to receive the curved side arms 2! of bracket BB. The said notches arrest the forward movement of bracket BB and handle arm H, and the first roller R2 adjacent front wall 10 arrests the rearward movement of said bracket when handle arm H is moved rearwardly over frame F.

In operating the device, the rear end of the truck is placed in position adjacent the front end of box B (which is presumably filled with a heavy material). Handle arm H is then moved rearwardly over frame F from the full line position shown in Fig. 1 to the dotted line position shown in the same figure. This rearward movement will cause the roller end of bracket BB to move downwardly, thus raising the front end of frame F and at the same time lowering the rear end thereof until the outwardly bevelled rear wall I! of frame F almost contacts the ground or floor. When this position is reached, terminal hook l la is engaged with the opening in tongue 29 of the front end of box B. Handle arm H is then lifted and' pulled forwardly. By this upward and forward movement, box B and its contents is lifted and rolled over rollers R2 on to the device.

When it is desired to unload box B after it has been transported on the device to its desired place, handle arm H is moved rearwardly over frame F until hook terminal Ma is disengaged from the opening in tongue 29 of box B. This rearward movement will tilt frame F as shown by the dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2. Box B is then rolled off the device over the outwardly bevelled rear wall ll.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, when handle arm H and its bracket BB is in the full line position shown in these figures, roller BB is in alignment with rollers RI. In this position, all of the said rollers serve as roller bearings to movably support frame F. When handle arm H and its secured bracket BB are moved rearwardly over frame F, bracket BB is caused to pivot about its pivot pin 22 thus causing bracket roller RB to assume a position which is out of alignment with rollers RI. The downward movement of bracket roller RB will tilt the device so that the frpnt end thereof will be raised and the rear end thereof lowered.

Handle arm H and its secured bracket BB are arrested from exceeding the limit of their forward and outward movement by notches 21 in front wall 10. The said handle arm and bracket are prevented from exceeding the limit of their rearward movement over frame F by the first roller R2 adjacent front wall H) of said frame.

I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention but it is obvious that numerous changes and omissions may be made without departing from its spirit. For example. bracket BB may be integral with handle arm H.

I do not wish to be limited to any particular proportions and dimensions as obviously the size of the device is principally to be governed by the size of the box or receptacles to be carried. Frame F can therefore be of any desired size or configuration.

I have not specified the materials from which the various members of my improved roller carrier device are formed. However, it is obvious that metal would be preferred in view of the nature and use of the improved device. Handle arm H may be made of wood and reinforced with metal if desired. Boxes or receptacles B may be made from sheet metal.

My improved roller carrier device may be employed to carry and transport articles other than receptacles or boxes, for example, metal filing cabinets, steel cabinets and cases, etc.

I claim:

-I. A roller carrier device comprising a frame having a front wall, an inclined rear wall and side walls, a series of ground rollers turnably mounted upon said side walls, a series of loading rollers also turnably mounted upon said side walls; the tops of the peripheries of said loading rollers extending above the tops of the peripheries of said ground rollers, a handle arm pivotally secured adjacent its lower ends to the front end of said frame, a ground roller turnably mounted on the lower ends of said handle arm posterior to said pivotal connection, the movement of said handle arm rearwardly over the frame being adapted to move said handle arm roller downwardly thereby raising the front end of said frame and lowering the rear end thereof, a hook member pivotallyand adjustably connected to said handle arm. said hook member having a hook terminal at its lower end adapted to engage a receptacle to be slid onto said frame over the loading rollers thereof, a clamping yoke positioned on said handle arm intermediate the pivotal connection of said hook member and the front wall of said frame, said yoke being adapted to prevent disengagement of the hook member from the receptacle supported by the loading rollers of the frame while the device is in motion.

2. A roller carrier device as claimed in claim 1 in which the front wall of the frame is formed with a pair of notches, said notches being adapted to receive the lower ends of the handle arm and to limit the forward movement thereof.

3. A roller carrier device of the character described comprising a rectangular frame haw'ng a notched front wall, an inclined rear wall and side walls, a plurality of ground rollers turnably mounted on said side walls, a plurality of loading rollers also turnably mounted on said side walls, the tops of the peripheries of said loading rollers extending above the tops of the peripheries of said ground rollers, a handle arm pivotally secured adjacent its lower ends to the front end of said frame, said pivotal connection being located posterior to the front wall of said frame, a ground roller turnably mounted on the free lower ends of said handle arm, said roller being located posterior to the pivotal connection of said handle arm, the movement of said handle arm rearwardly over the frame being adapted to move said roller downwardly thereby raising the front end of said frame and lowering the rear end thereof, a hook member having a hook terminal at its lower end pivotally and adjustably connected to said handle arm, said hook member adapted to engage a receptacle to be slid onto said frame over the loading rollers thereof, a clamping yoke member positioned on said handle arm intermediate the pivotal connection of said hook member and the front wall of said frame, said yoke member being adapted to retain said hook member and to prevent disengagement thereof from the receptacle supported by the loading rollers of the frame while ARTHUR R. COLE. 

